Located on a narrow site adjacent to the Strathcona Building, which houses the faculty's main concert facilities, the new building contains a library, recital hall, state-of-the-art multimedia and practice studios as well as additional faculty offices. Almost five story high, the polished limestone volume is embedded three stories into the ground at the north end of the lot. The east facade is clad in black and grey zinc. The west facade shows a pattern of matt and polished aluminum that reflects the Strathcona Building on its surface while a series of punched windows, an evocation of the piano rolls used in antique mechanical pianos, bring light into the smaller interior spaces.